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NBA stars in Friends of Zion Museum

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Written by Zion Museum

Published: 27 July 2015

NBA players slam-dunk for the state of Israel:

Omri Casspi in Friends of Zion museum in Jerusalem: “It is really important to show the world the freedom Israel gives to each religion to practice their faith. Seeing the Christians throughout history helping out our country and our people it really touched my heart”

Jerusalem, Israel, July 26, 2015: A group of NBA stars visited the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem as a show of solidarity with the State of Israel. Zionism has often appeared to be an exclusively Jewish issue—not so. Tens of millions of Christians are fervent and unapologetic Zionists.

"It is really important to show the world the freedom Israel gives to each religion to practice their faith. Seeing the Christians throughout history helping out our country and our people it really touched my heart”, says Sacramento Kings Forward Omri Casspi. The visit of the delegation is very important because the younger generation in the United States idolizes famous people from the fields of music, sport and entertainment. Casspi led a delegation to Israel that included NBA stars Demarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings), Caron Butler (Sacramento Kings), Chandler Parsons (Dallas Mavericks), Iman Amfert (Cleveland Cavaliers). The players were accompanied by other professionals and NBA league officials.

The NBA superstars visited the newly-opened Friends of Zion Museum to learn first-hand about the long history of friendship, cooperation and help from non-Jews, the hundreds who have helped the Jewish people during the last few generations, and especially during the Holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel.

The NBA stars and their delegation toured the museum for an hour and a half, watching exhibits delivered via some of the most impressive museum technology in the world, including three-dimensional projection mapping on unique sculptures and complex rotoscope animations that bring live-action video footage into a painted media.

They learned the about the contributions of Friends of Zion such as US President Harry Truman, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, US president's forefather, Prof. George W. Bush, Orde Wingate, and righteous gentiles such as Oskar Schindler, Raoul Wallenberg and the Ten Boom family, who risked their lives to save Jews persecuted throughout the world.

Caron Butler, a Forward for the Sacramento Kings, said, “It was amazing to the touch the largest screens I have ever seen in my life! It was just mind blowing, a great experience! I feel like this is a must do; anyone who comes to Jerusalem must visit this museum.”

After the tour, the Friends of Zion Museum presented Omri Casspi and his foundation with the Defender of Zion award for outstanding work on behalf of the Jewish people on and off the court.

About the museum:

The museum is the brainchild of thousands of people who love Israel, of all denominations, and its purpose is to bring people closer and cultivate friendship between religions..

The museum is supported by thousands of people around the world who love Israel. Former Israeli President and Nobel Prize laureate Shimon Peres, serves as chairman of the museum’s International Board of Trustees. The museum is currently open to visitors by reservation on the Museum's website: www.fozmuseum.com, by emailing the reservation department at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or calling +972-2-532-9400. The purpose of the Friends of Zion Museum is to draw people together and foster friendship between religions. Former President of Israel and Nobel laureate Shimon Peres, who serves as Chairman of the International Board, stated that ““Nothing is greater than the cause of friendship among human beings".

The Museum is currently open to visitors by reservation on the Museum's website: www.fozmuseum.com or by emailing our reservation department at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or +972-2-532-9400.